Deathless
by Vergil Creiger
Summary: When Issei is killed by Reinare in a world without Rias, Death appears before him. "Become my instrument, deathling. Become my messenger, and everything you desire shall be yours. Life. Power. Vengeance. All I ask in return is your loyalty. Your loyalty, and your allegiance." To an offer like that, there could be only one answer.
1. Deathless

Once upon a time there was a perverted young man named Issei. Though good at heart, his age equaled the time he had spent without a girlfriend, until one day a beautiful girl he had never met before in his life randomly confessed her love to him.

Obviously, it was a lie. The girl was a fallen angel who, for one obscure reason or another, wanted to kill him. Which she eventually did, with great relish. She lured him out to a secluded park, then shoved a spear of light between his ribs and left him to die.

In one world, Issei was saved by a beautiful girl with red hair. He met a kind nun, a sensual demi-fallen angel, a loli cat girl, a brave knight, a shy vampire, an exorcist with a spectacular magic sword and his long lost childhood friend, and together they would get up to mischief and adventures of all sorts.

But what if all those people didn't exist. Then what? Would Issei then die, alone in the mud, without ever seeing another sunrise, without falling in love, without holding his first child in his arms, without growing old or seeing his grandchildren or experiencing life as he should...

Would he die, cold, betrayed and alone?

Yes.

Yes he would.

Issei lay on the ground, bleeding. It was astonishing, he thought, how much blood was contained within the human body. He could no longer hear his own heartbeat, nor the sounds of breathing. It left the world around him horrifyingly quiet.

Though the spear had burned to high hell, it didn't seem to have cauterized the wound, allowing for maximum leakage. It had also disappeared, which he had mixed feelings about. Though the burning was gone, it would've significantly slowed the rate of blood loss.

He was dying. Fact. His girlfriend had been the murderer, and had laughed while she did it. He no longer cared, to be honest. But yeah, dying. A new experience, which is never good. It hurt, it was invasive, it had ruined his school uniform. First love bites.

Issei had never really accomplished anything in life. He had never been good at sports, never been good at academics, never joined any clubs, never volunteered at special events, never learned to cook or play an instrument, never been popular or fallen in love, but he didn't regret it. He had one regret, and that was his family.

He wished he'd said goodbye before he left the house that morning.

_Ba__'__dum__. __Ba__'__dum__._

Ah, hello, old friend.

_...__ba__'__dum__...__ba__'__dum__..._

Despite its long absence, the sound was loud, strong.

…_.__ba__'__dum__...__ba__'__dum__..._

It was slowing down.

…_..__ba__'__dum__...__ba__'__dum__..._

All this time Issei had been lying on his back, staring vacantly at the night sky. Since he lived in the city, the bright lights obscured most of the stars. Now, even the trees and buildings in his peripheral vision had disappeared. He knew it was the end.

…..._ba__'__dum__...__ba__'__dum__..._

He imagined his mother, cooking at home. His friends, laughing at school. His girlfriend, when they had first met. He felt himself start to cry.

…_...__ba__'__dum__...__ba__'__dum__..._

I'm so scared.

…_...__ba__'__dum__...__ba__'__dum__..._

I'm so alone.

…_...__ba__'__dum__...__ba__-_

And then it was over.

The sad form lay in the puddle, which was starting to turn from red to brown. Its hair and clothes ruffled in the cool wind, steam rose like a departing spirit from where the spear had exited its back and its body heat plummeted to the level of the chilly night air.

There was no sound. Every bird and every beast had left for parts unknown, fleeing in instinctive terror from the corpse of Issei Hyodou, the man who should have been a hero.

And the soul of a hero...

That was a prize worth collecting in person.

A shadow began to froth across the ground. The street lamps began to flicker off, one by one, as the darkness boiled upwards. The black tendrils coiled slowly, overlapping one another intimately, as a Grim figure rose up.

His skin was pale, bloodless, and wrapped tightly over bulging muscles. His lower body and arms were shielded by massive plates of rusty grey armor. Right arm to the elbow. Left arm to the shoulder. The torso was left bare, revealing scars innumerable, and a large azure gem glowed sadly from where it was embedded in his right pectoral. His hair hung to his shoulders, lank and oily and black. His face was covered by a near blank bone mask, which reminded one of a skull, though without the cheery grin. The only openings on the ghostly veil were for the eyes, from which two points of glowing red shone forth. In his hand a scythe, huge, chipped and unimaginably sharp.

"**Wake ****up****, ****deadman****."**

The corpse did not move, did not breath. Its heart did not beat, for it never would again.

"...wasn't I supposed to be dead?"

"**You ****are****. ****An ****experience****, ****ironically****, ****that ****I ****am ****unfamiliar ****with****."**

"Ah," Issei was dead, but he wasn't stupid. "You must be Death."

"**Correct****," **whispered the Grim figure. **"****Old ****age****, ****predation****, ****malnutrition****, ****disease****, ****suicide****, ****murder****. ****I ****am ****all ****these ****and ****more****."**

"I see," murmured Issei. "So this is the end."

"**I ****am ****afraid ****so****."**

For a while there was silence. Death and dead were still, their thoughts of a world beyond our own. "Why?"

He understood. **"****Must ****there ****be ****a ****reason****?"**

"No, I suppose not." sighed Issei. Death caught him by surprise, then.

"**She ****did ****not ****kill ****you ****because ****of ****who ****you ****were****, ****or ****because ****of ****any thing ****you ****had ****done****. ****She ****killed ****you ****because ****of ****what ****you ****could ****have ****been****, ****what ****you ****could ****have ****done****."**

"I was a nobody."

"**Yes****, ****which ****was ****why ****she ****dealt ****with ****you ****then****, ****in ****case ****you ****became ****a ****threat****. ****You ****were ****born ****to ****be ****a ****hero****, ****deathling****. ****A ****leader****, ****a ****savior****, ****a ****force ****which ****shaped ****the ****world****, ****shaped ****history ****and ****shaped ****the ****people ****around you****. ****You ****were ****to ****do ****great ****things****..." **Death fell to a whisper, a cold hiss on the wind. **"****So ****great ****that ****even ****I ****could ****not ****ignore ****you****."**

"**Which ****is ****why ****I ****would ****strike ****a ****bargain ****with ****you****, ****deadman****."**

For the first time since their conversation started, the corpse moved. Issei rolled himself over onto his stomach, then painfully pushed himself onto his knees. He knelt there, panting, blood soaked into his back and now his front also, a hole running through his chest. "I'm listening."

"**Change ****is ****coming****," **Death whispered. **"****Change ****so ****swift ****and ****so ****great ****that ****worlds ****will ****be ****swept ****away ****by ****its ****coming****. ****Gods ****and ****demons ****shall ****rise ****and ****fall****, ****even ****I ****am ****not ****certain ****I ****shall ****survive ****the ****onslaught****. ****Which ****is ****why ****I ****find ****myself ****in ****need ****of ****some ****insurance****. ****A ****weapon****." **Issei could see, partially obscured by his hair, those red eyes piercing into his soul. **"****A ****champion****."**

"**Become ****my ****instrument****, ****deathling****. ****Become ****my ****messenger****, ****and ****everything ****you ****desire ****shall ****be ****yours****. ****Life****. ****Power****. ****Vengeance****. ****Anything****. ****All ****I ****ask ****in ****return ****is ****your ****loyalty****. ****Your ****loyalty****, ****and ****your ****allegiance****."**

The night was silent. Issei fought his way to his feet. Slowly. Painfully. His mouth twisted into a humorless, sardonic smirk.

To an offer like that, there could be only one answer.

"Go fuck yourself."

Death stopped cold. **"****What****?"**

"Power? Revenge? Life?" laughed Issei bitterly. "As if I need any of that. I only want one of those things, and something tells me you can't give it to me."

"**How ****dare ****you****!" **growled the Reaper. **"****Think ****of ****what ****you****'****re ****turning ****down****!"**

"I know exactly what I'm turning down," Issei shot back. "Loyalty? Allegiance? You want my _obedience__. _You want my _servitude__. _You want to me to murder in your name, that's all." In his mind's eye, he saw _her__. _Her eyes, her hair, her laugh as she tore his life away. He would never be like her. Never.

"**You ****ignorant ****fleshbag****!" **snarled the apparition. **"****Have ****you ****no ****idea ****of ****who ****you****'****re ****dealing ****with****? ****I ****am ****Death****, ****the ****Grim ****Reaper****, ****Fourth ****and ****Mightiest ****of ****the ****Horsemen****! ****You ****think ****you ****can ****insult ****me ****in ****such ****a ****manner****, ****when ****I ****have ****given ****you ****an ****offer ****no ****mortal ****has ****been ****given ****before****! ****You****! ****An ****insignificant ****speck****, ****who ****would ****have ****gone ****unnoticed ****and ****unmissed****, ****were ****it ****not ****for ****I****. ****Who ****do ****you ****think ****you ****are****? ****WHO ****DO ****YOU ****THINK ****YOU ****ARE****! ****YOU ****ARE ****NOTHING****, ****YOU ****HEAR ****ME****! ****NOTH****-"**

He was interrupted by a fist colliding with his face, so hard both mask and hand were shattered.

"Don't take rejection well, do you?"

Issei kicked him twice, once in the groin and once in the knee, already running as he toppled. The park was surrounded by a high wall, which he vaulted over at high speed, straight into a road thick with traffic. More than one car hit him, leaving streaks of his remaining blood across their windscreens, but he barely slowed. On the other side he did a standing jump, grabbing onto the edge of a handy fire escape and flipping himself up. He glanced over his shoulder.

Death crashed through the wall, weapon a blur in front of him. The totaled vehicles left in Issei's wake were shredded like cottage cheese, diced into two, four, eight, into nothing at all. Issei scrambled up the side of the fire escape, ignoring the stairs for the sake of speed. The Grim Reaper followed, the escape crumpling like matchwood as he bulled through, fists grabbing huge chunks of masonry as he dragged himself upwards through upper body strength alone.

Issei vaulted onto the rooftop. He was strong, he was fast, and he was agile for no apparent reason, but he couldn't stop to wonder why because Death was hot on his heels. Straight ahead was a river, forded by a huge metal bridge. A long cable connected the bridge with the roof he stood on, and that was what he went for. He took it at a running jump, the Reaper's scythe flying so hard and so close that he felt the wind pressure cut at his back. Instead it severed the cable, just before Issei grabbed on.

The deadman held on for dear life as the cord swung an incredible distance, miraculously failing to slam him into the side of the bridge. It was a moot point, however, as he was flung screaming into the path of an oncoming lorry.

Death stood at the building's edge, glaring balefully as the truck jackknifed. A long, deep crack snaked across his mask from where Issei's fist hit home. **"****Minions****..." **he rumbled. Red mist breathed about his ankles and materialized into slavering doglike demons. Their heads, torsos and limbs were hideously misshapen and distorted, and their saliva hissed on the concrete. **"****Take ****him ****down****."**

The pack tore into action, baying for the deadman's blood. Issei was only just creaking to his feet, dizzy from the impact, as they caught up. As his vision steadied he was already surrounded, the Minions mounted upon crashed cars, crawling across the bridge supports or scraping along the ground.

The pack leader crept forward. It was a huge specimen, the pale orange skin of its kindred replaced by a sickly green, and a coat of lethal spikes burst from between its shoulder blades. It lunged and he dodged, throwing himself out the way in a monumental leap to safety. Pulling itself out of the crater its impact had caused, the creature balanced itself on its smaller hind legs and began to swipe wildly with its huge forelimbs. Issei dodged each blow cleanly, back-stepping smoothly and trying to use as little movement as possible. Eventually he saw his opening and jumped straight over the Minion's head, higher than he had ever jumped before.

He landed messily, rolling to a halt near one of the many vehicles that had been caught in the mayhem. A car, the door torn off and a fat white man lying dead in the driver's seat. He was probably American, because strapped to his leg was the longest and broadest combat knife Issei had ever seen. He had barely torn it out of its sheath before his enemy was on him, spear-tackling him in the abdomen and sending him skidding across the ground. The monster snarled, viciously trying to bite his head off.

Big mistake. It should've used it's claws.

Issei drew the knife back and slammed it deep into the Minion's shoulder, then yanked it out and slashed the wrist holding his right shoulder in place. His right arm now free he attacked furiously, stabbing once in the chest and once in the throat. The creature reared back and he took his chance, using both hands to ram the weapon into the center of the monster's face.

As he pulled the weapon free his enemy pulled back and roared, a huge spout of blood gushed from the wound and Issei found himself buried beneath its overpowering bulk. He frantically kicked the weight off, desperate to escape, to _survive__. _A futile hope, considering he was already dead.

And then, impossibly, the Minion stood up. It was groggy, weak, and with the same cold clarity he had had since life had abandoned him, he showed no mercy.

Grabbing its arm he began to pull, placing his foot against its shoulder for leverage. The monster squealed in agony and the tendons gave way, the limb separating with a snap. Issei stumbled backwards, disoriented for brief moment. And then he jumped, bringing the severed limb down like a gory club and crushing the monster beneath its weight.

Exactly what it was that happened next, Issei couldn't be sure. What he saw was the severed arm turn grey, dissolve into tentacles of moving bio-matter and assimilate into his body, the feeling it caused one of revolting invasion. His body, already beginning to decay, began to repair itself at the sudden increase in biomass. The broken hand, the shredded back, the results of being caught in eight consecutive car crashes in the course of ten minutes. All of it closed up and disappeared, though unfortunately the hole in his chest remained where it was.

But that wasn't all. His flesh began to glow and flicker, as though unsure of its own shape. Not like a mirage, or the shimmer on a hot day. It literally, physically flickered, the disturbance surging across his body, focusing on his arms until-

'THOOM'

The change was so sudden it caused a small sonic boom, the air forced backwards by the explosive transformation. Issei's arms, from wrists to shoulders, bulged with skinless muscle. The color was black streaked with red, and various protrusions, like tubes, ridges or spines showed where the synthesis of man and monster was incomplete. Each hand was now triple the size of his head, and were each adorned with a terrifying set of claws. Three fingers and a thumb each, they lacked bones or joints but rather extended into claws straight from the knuckle-bones, long, curved, serrated and sharp. Weapons, made for killing. For battle.

Issei targeted the Minion closest to him and lunged with an animal roar, tearing it to ribbons with the first strike.

Death watched darkly as the deadman slaughtered the remaining demons. This. Was. Not. Good. **"****Despair****!" **he barked, and Despair answered. And lo, he rode upon a pale horse.

As Despair carried his master to the battlefield, Issei finished the last of the Minions. With a swipe of his new claws its arm went flying into the air, and as it stared stupidly at the stump he leapt up, planted his feet on its shoulder and decapitated it with a double swipe. At this point he noticed the horse, huge and powerful, its pale flesh rotting and decorated with bone armor. Its hooves, its mane and its eyes all glowed with ghastly green fire, and on its back rode Death, his scythe held at the ready.

Without hesitation, but not without fear, Issei charged. His inferior body weight meant his flying tackle was unable to knock the horse down, but it was not without effect. As Issei clung like a monkey to the horse's chest it reared and neighed, leaving Death unable to attack for fear of killing his mount. The poor creature screamed as the claw plunged into its neck, sending its master flying for the first time since time began. As the huge creature fell Issei stabbed a second time, pinning its throat to the concrete. After a few moments, the legs stopped kicking.

Death and deadman rose to their feet, each glaring steadily at the other. Issei briefly considered running, but the other being charged before he got the chance. Issei knew the incredible weapon in Death's hand would cut through him like a hot knife through butter, so trying to take him on in a head to head clash would be the equivalent of suicide. Instead he backhanded with his right claw, striking the flat of the blade and redirecting its course, allowing it to embed harmlessly into the ground. His left moving in the same direction at the same time, Issei used the momentum to gash into Death's forearm, digging into it and completely cutting it off. His claws morphing back into human arms in a blur of red and black, Issei grabbed the haft of the scythe and yanked it out of the ground, bringing it round in a crushing arc-

-only for Death for to grab it, blade first, with his remaining hand. With a flick of his wrist, the ungodly metal snapped. Issei staggered backwards, jaw swinging. "That... That's not fair!"

Death grabbed him by the throat and lifted him clear off the ground. **"The world is un****fair****, ****boy****!" **Death's severed right arm lifted of the ground, smoothly re-attaching itself to its owner. **"****You ****led ****me ****a ****merry ****chase****, ****deathling****, ****but ****it ****looks ****like ****this ****is ****the ****end****."**

"The end?" smirked Issei. He was glad he no longer needed to breath, or else Death would be destroying his windpipe. "Not quite."

"**Oh****?"**

"Of course. I have yet to use my secret weapon, which like all good secret weapons-" Issei threw his head back dramatically. "Comes from above!"

Death glanced upwards quickly, and Issei took his chance. Morphing his left hand, one long claw dug into Death's throat and exited through the crown of his skull. His grip loosened and Issei's legs came up, using Death's chest as a springboard-

-and inadvertently flinging himself off the side of the bridge. Death ran to the edge, his wounds already healed, but it was too late.

He was gone.

Death stood at the edge, eyes glowing behind his crumbling mask.

He had strength, speed, reflexes and agility several times what he had when he was alive.

Death didn't care.

His survival instinct was so strong, he could fight on par with entire packs of demons.

Death didn't care.

He was capable of assimilating other beings at a genetic level, taking on their strength, abilities and physical characteristics.

Death didn't care.

For Death was drawn to life like a moth to a flame. One who was already dead on the other hand...

This man...

This boy...

Had outrun Death.

"**This****..." **He murmured, mask finally falling away to reveal the visage beneath. **"****Has ****never ****happened ****before****."**


	2. Four Way Anarchy

She ran the ladle in circles for a few moments, then brought it to her lips for a sip.

Perfect.

Issei would be coming back from his first date soon, so she had made his favorite homemade chicken soup to celebrate. She had seen pictures of the girl on his phone, and was honestly surprised that her silly, perverted son had managed to bag such a hottie. She hoped the girl would treat him well. He was a moron and a shameless pervert, but he was still her son.

It had been hard, sometimes. Issei's father had died very suddenly - very, very suddenly - long before he was born, meaning she had to raise him entirely on her own. It hadn't always been easy, and he certainly wasn't perfect, but she loved him anyway. She wanted - wanted dearly - for him to be happy.

A crash echoed through the house as the front door was flung open. The sound was soon followed by a limp thud, a body collapsing in the hallway. The soup was dashed across the floor as she ran to the door. There - a hole in his heart - was Issei.

All she could do was scream. Eventually one of the neighbors heard and came to investigate. They called an ambulance, but were unable to pry the frantic mother from her child. When they reached the hospital the doctor gave her a strong sedative, and she knew no more.

Her son, the doctors found, was a medical miracle. Whatever had pierced his chest had utterly incinerated his right lung, narrowly missing his spine. Excrement, blood and undigested food sat unmoving in their designated organs, all of which (even his heart) had stopped working. But his brain persevered, flickering with neural activity that never made it down his spine.

And yet, his body responded anyway. Through sheer habit he continued to breathe, the flow of air causing an odd whistling sound to come from the hole in his chest. When they took a sample of his blood the wound continued to leak; very slowly, as it lacked the hearts assistance. It was this that was blamed when Issei's neural activity plummeted a few hours later. Their first solution was to give him a blood transfusion. Chaos ensued.

Once the uproar had died down they arranged for blood to be dripped continuously onto his bare skin, where it was immediately assimilated into his body. The places where their needles had penetrated closed up, and his brain returned to equilibrium. There was a certain unsteadiness to his brain waves, however, which they discovered was due to the second hand nature of the donated blood. His skin excreted an odd toxin, which lost potency mere nanoseconds after making contact with the air. It converted human cellular tissue into stem cells, absorbed them into his body and used them to repair his constantly deteriorating innards.

This of course was only a theory, of which only two things had been proven true.

Firstly, Issei could process literally any human tissue. Skin, muscle, internal organs, you name it and he ate it. He would probably eat people's clothes if you soaked them in enough blood beforehand.

Secondly was that the fresher the tissue the more easily he digested it, as they found at the expense of a particularly unfortunate hamster named Balthazar.

The point is, all of this made the doctors at this hospital very excited indeed, in a manner which involved everyone shouting over one another and generally trying to assert that their theories and observations were better than anyone else's. They did this in the Doctor Lounge, a fair way down the hall from Issei's room. Apart from him the room was empty, and of course no one had the forethought to ensure he was guarded. This made it very easy for the tall man in the trench coat and fedora hat to slip inside.

"Hello there, Mr Houdou," he smiled politely. "My name is Donnasiege." He sat next to Issei's bed and crossed one leg over the other. The was an empty glass sitting next to a jug of water, so he poured himself a drink.

"So I hear I have to kill you," he observed after a few sips. "Bummer. Those eggheads down the hall seem to think you're the best thing since penicillin, by the way, so maybe that's not such a bummer after all. Better dead than locked up and experimented on, right?" Silence. "Right."

He took another sip.

"I don't know what makes you so special, but trust me when I say Reinare is the _only_ one you need blame. Azazel... ah, our boss, that is... only wanted us to observe you. Reinare killed you because... I don't know, she was jealous, I suppose. Because he was more interested in some kid who won the genetic lottery than in her."

He began to turn the glass contemplatively in his hand.

"Azazel, yes. You may have heard of him, you know, from the bible. Did you ever read the Bible, Mr Hyoudou? Did you ever notice how in the bible whenever God needs someone punished, or killed, or made an example of he always sends an angel. Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising God, but with one wing dipped in blood. Would you really ever want to meet an angel?"

Donnasiege finished the last of his drink, then moved to stand over his bed. Black wings spread from his back. Like a crow.

"Well guess what. I'm an angel. A _fallen_ angel. One of the ones who became disillusioned and bit the hand that feeds. I kill first-borns while their mothers watch, I turn cities into salt and occasionally I rip the souls from little girls, when the mood takes me. And now I'm feeling all guilty. Not because I'm about to commit murder, or because you're just a kid, or because you mother is in the next room, or because your friends will be sad, or because because because..."

A spear of blue light manifested in his hand, and he held it threateningly over his head. "It's because you'll never know _why_."

He thrust the spear towards the sleeping man's face, and the blade was caught by a single hand.

"Thank you, Donnasiege." whispered Issei. Wisps of smoke rose from where the spear was burning his palm. "For giving me a name." His eyes opened, and Donnasiege knew true fear. **"****REINARE****!"**

The side of the hospital exploded. Lumps of concrete hurtled through air and crashed into the building on the opposite street, accompanied by myriad shards of glass from the windows. The fifty or so goons dressed all in black drew back as one, crouching down on their perch on the rooftops to avoid the shrapnel. Presumably, this meant the target had woken up.

"Everybody scatter," shouted Reinare from where she headed the group. "The target has escaped! Search the area around the hospital before he gets away!"

It was Donnasiege - who had survived the blast - that found him first.

He didn't know what had happened after Issei woke up, but the injured boy had let him live. Hadn't even touched him, as a matter of fact. It had been easy to track him, the deadman having only made a few blocks until he collapsed from the wound in his chest. He was slumped against the wall, seemingly unconscious, his hospital gown dirtied in the mud. As soon as he saw him, Donnasiege shoved a spear into his face.

It carved through his skull like a hot knife through butter, sizzling into the wall behind him. He stood frozen for a moment, caught off guard by the anti-climactic kill. He allowed the spear of light to fizzle out and lingered awkwardly for a moment, somehow expecting more. He turned away.

A pale hand pierced into his back and erupted from his chest. "I let you go once," was the last thing he heard as the area around the wound dissolved into grey bio matter. "You should have got the message."

Moments later, a masked henchman walked into the alley. What he saw was Donnasiege; he stood alone, holding his hands up in front of his face and regarding them contemplatively. "Sir?" said the goon hesitantly. "Did you find the target?"

The fallen angel gave him an odd look, as though he were speaking a foreign language. "What was that?"

"Lord Donnasiege..."

"Ah, I see!" he nodded finally. He began to admire his reflection in a puddle. "So I look just like the fallen angel now, right?"

The thug's eyes widened, and he hefted his gun. "You're not Donnasiege."

"No." agreed Issei; he grabbed him by the throat and slammed him headfirst into the wall. The crushed corpse was immediately assimilated, and Issei's appearance automatically altered itself to that of the man he had just killed. He patted the front of the black coat, but the wound in his chest still hadn't closed up.

"Huh," he grunted. "Weird."

"I agree." said someone behind him. Floating a good distance off the ground were two more fallen angels. One was an attractive woman with an outfit that flaunted her large bust, while the other was a small, blond goth-loli. As soon as he spotted them Issei went hurtling to the end of the alley, jumping clear over the wire fence onto the tarmac road beyond. There was no traffic, leaving him free to run as he pleased down the highway; this turned out to be very fast indeed, as his legs began to flicker with shifting biomass and empower him to speeds no human could hope to match.

Ahead of him a car turned onto the road and began to drive towards him. Before he could change direction a black helicopter swooped in from behind a building, launching a rocket at the oncoming vehicle. The missile hit it in the tail end, sending it flipping and screeching towards him. Unable to slow down at such velocity, Issei instead jumped straight towards the flaming ball of metal. He caught it firmly, but was knocked backwards by the superior weight. He landed on his feet and skidded backwards a few yards, before raising the wreckage clear over his head. The chopper opened fire with its machine guns, but the bullets just caused an annoying itching sensation as they passed straight through him, the injuries they caused closing up within seconds.

With an animal roar, Issei hurled the car through the air. The helicopter simply dropped out of the sky as the blazing lump of steel hit it; it crashed to the ground with a sound like breaking glass, screeching across the ground for several feet before grinding to a halt. Issei briefly wondered if this meant he could take a rest before the chopper exploded, indirectly setting off one of its missiles. It went off against Issei's chest, flash-frying his front and sending him flying through the air. He rolled a bit before coming to rest on his back. He looked dead. It meant nothing.

Reinare, along with the two lackey angels, floated to the ground. "Did we get him?" she snapped impatiently.

"It's hard to say," said the older lackey subserviently. "The target seems to be quite resilient."

"Someone should go over and check." observed the blond.

Silence.

A brief argument ensued over who should go over and finish the job. The dilemma was solved by the arrival of their minions, of whom Reinare chose two at random. The duo approached the corpse, guns at the ready. Though Issei had still been in the form of the grunt he'd killed, the horrifying burns and flame damage rendered him completely unrecognizable. Most of the clothing on his upper body had been incinerated in the blast, leaving the gaping wound next to his heart clear for all to see. The guns the grunts were holding shot bullets made of light in rapid fire, and Issei's body jumped and spasmed as the twin streams peppered his torso. After several minutes they ran out of ammo.

"So that's it?" said the little blond angel nervously. "Is he dead?" The three fallen angels approached their target hesitantly. The older lackey gave him a tentative nudge with her foot, and all of them jumped back. Nothing happened.

With renewed confidence she delivered a full blown kick, the blond stepping up beside her. "See, nothing to worry abo-"

Issei leapt to his feet, arms morphing into claws as he went. He grabbed a fallen angel in each hand and threw the older one to the ground, stomping on her brutally with his left foot. Her body was crushed, then immediately assimilated. The bullet holes closed up and the burns disappeared, but the chest wound stayed where it was. For the first time since she had murdered him, Issei saw his girlfriend's face.

"Reinare," he nodded.

"Issei," she nodded back.

With the terrified blond still clutched in one huge hand, Issei jumped for a nearby building. Channeling biomass to his legs he began to run up the side, digging his feet into the glass and concrete and using sheer ab strength to keep himself from falling. As he flipped himself onto the rooftop two more helicopters rose up to greet him, but it did them little good. Issei grabbed one of the huge ventilation ducts with his free hand and threw it at one of the choppers, then immediately repeated the action for the second. But they had slowed him down, and Reinare was there with her army at her heels. Issei drew back and lifted one long, serrated claw to his hostage's throat.

"Don't move," he warned. "Or she dies."

"Really now," smirked the dark haired woman. "Is that a fact?"

"You think I won't?" snarled Issei, and his claw dug into the blond's neck. She whimpered and screwed her eyes up tight, a single teardrop leaking down her cheek.

"I think you can't!" the other girl laughed. "You were such a gentle boy before, Issei. So caring and thoughtful. It makes one wonder how you could be capable of such violence, such brutality. But then I thought, who isn't?" Her smile became even crueler, if that was possible. "What are the limits of what anyone would, of who they would hurt in order to survive. So I ask you now... do you _need_ to kill her to survive?"

There was silence on the rooftop. Issei hooked his claw under the blonde's chin and lifted her head. She screwed up her eyes even tighter and her whimpers became even more pathetic. Issei lowered his lips to her ear, and whispered-

"Sorry,"

He kicked her in the back, and she stumbled across the space between them and landed on her knees. She glanced over her shoulder incredulously, unable to believe she had escaped death so easily. "Mitelt," called her superior, and she hurriedly stood up and ran to her side. Reinare smiled down at her, then turned back to her ex. "Well," she smiled. "What now? You killed one of my subordinates after all."

"Not one," said Issei, and his body flickered. He retained his own appearance, but he was wearing Donnasiege's clothes. "Two."

Reinare narrowed her eyes, and likely would have ordered the attack were it not for what happened next.

"What exactly is going on here?" Behind Issei had appeared a group of people his own age. Ridiculously, they were wearing his school uniform. There eight of them, mostly girls with one boy. Considering who their leader was, they were probably the student council. "What do you think you're doing in my territory!" snarled Sona Sitri. "How many innocent people do you think have been killed already!"

"Oh, relax," laughed Reinare. "We'll just kill this monster here and then we'll be on our way."

"...Hyoudou?" said the only male of the SC. "Is that you?"

Issei gave him a hard look. He'd never met him before. "Yeah, it's me," he said gruffly. "Now I'm going to assume that, like everyone else I've met recently, you want to kill me."

"What?" The boy looked shocked. "Why would you think that?" Sona eyed Issei's claws warily. She had a pretty good idea.

"Because you're devils?" said Reinare sardonically.

"Devils." sighed Issei tiredly. "Perfect."

"Wait," said Mitelt suddenly. "When you say 'everyone I've met recently', do you mean people besides us?"

"And who might that be?" said Sona, worried about more troublemakers on her turf.

"Well," said Issei, subtly shifting into a battle ready position. "Them."

All hell broke loose.

The deformed hellhounds had silently stalked across the surrounding rooftops whilst they were distracted, and by the time the attack came they were surrounded. Dozens of exorcists were slaughtered in the first few seconds, Reinare and Mitelt shamelessly using their underlings as human shields in the melee. Sona had reacted quickly, throwing up a barrier around her servants that pushed back any that attacked it, inflicted with burns far worse than Issei had received. The deathling himself was a whirlwind, his claws leaving arcs of blood in their wake as he systematically took apart the assailants. His grace and skill were incredible, though less impressive if you happened to know it was all second hand experience gained from the hounds he had already consumed.

Issei instinctively flipped away from the point of battle; just in time, as a huge creature unlike any before it jumped out of nowhere, crushing the beasts that he had just been fighting. It possessed the same body structure as the hounds, with large, powerful front legs and smaller hind legs. Its skin was grey, like rock, and its face elongated into a snout rimmed with small, sharp teeth. Completing the look were a set of twisted horns and a long tail ending in a club.

The creature roared towards him, head down so it could gore him with its horns. Issei waited until it was just within reach, then grabbed the natural weapons firmly with his claws. His feet skidded across the rooftop as the monster's superior weight pushed him back, the only thing stopping him being the raised edge. As his heels hit the edge Issei tilted backwards, until he was hanging almost horizontally over the sheer drop; desperately, he hung onto the creature's face even as it started trying to bite him furiously.

Suddenly the monster's head jerked back, indirectly heaving Issei to safety. Just over the thing's shoulder he saw the boy from the SC; a length of glowing black thread extended harmlessly through Sona's barrier, connecting his right hand with the back of the beast's skull. Their eyes met for a brief moment.

Issei drew back his claw and stabbed it mercilessly into the creature's bicep, causing it to crumple onto its chin. Seizing the opportunity Issei pulled himself up, straddling its broad neck even as it regained its bearings and hauled itself to its feet. The monster began to rampage across the rooftop, lashing out wildly as Issei carefully directed it where he wanted it to go. When he finally jumped clear of the monster's back it was just about tear into what remained of Reinare's exorcists.

By this point, all the hellhounds were dead save for the large one Issei had just been grappling. Sona allowed her barrier to fall, just as yet another black chopper rose up behind them. Issei sprinted towards them, allowing his claws to morph back into normal human arms. Just before he reached them he jumped, sailing clear over them and slamming into the chopper with a biomass-charged kick. The helicopter crumpled lengthwise flew backwards and exploding into flames against the side of the building. Not a moment after Issei landed he jumped, soaring effortlessly over the gap and disappearing into the blaze.

By this point, the fallen angels had managed to kill the alpha beast, its head rolling down to the street below and its body pumping thick blood onto the ground. Reinare began to scream at her surviving underlings to attack, but Sona had already created a massive magic circle under her servants, teleporting them to safety.

In the aftermath of the battle, Reinare and Mitelt stared across the gap at the now flaming building opposite. A man drew up beside them. He was human, with white hair and a white exorcist's coat. His name was Freed Zelzan.

"That," said Freed respectfully. "Was one badass mother of god."

Elsewhere, Issei finally allowed himself to rest. He wasn't sure where he was, just that he was in a dark, cold place, and that he was alone. He curled into a ball, finally allowing the events of the last two days to catch up with him.

"_How __many __innocent __people __do __you __think __have __been __killed __already__!"_

That was what Sona had said. People in the hospital, people in that car, people in the building he had kicked a helicopter into, people who died in the multitude of car crashes when this farce had started. He had caused people to die, people to suffer, people who would missed by other people who cared about them as much as his mother cared about him.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part, the absolute worst part, was that he knew he would allow it to happen again.

Because nothing-

_Nothing__!_

-was worse than Death.

Issei buried his head in his knees, and started to cry.


End file.
